When Premier Christy Clark makes her television pitch to voters Sunday, the BC Liberal Party will be taking a leaf out of the social media strategy book of sports teams and other organizations that match up broadcasts with interactive multimedia on smartphones and other Internet-connected devices.

While the practice of using the so-called ‘second screen’ of other devices to engage TV audiences isn’t new – think of such features as online chats that run parallel to televised sports games – BC Liberal Party spokesman Sam Oliphant said Sunday’s broadcast represents the first time a political party has tried it in Canada.

“Traditionally with a 30-minute program, people’s attention is divided… The idea behind this is to provide them as they are on their mobile devices with additional content that keeps them interacting with the message you are trying to talk about,” said Oliphant.

At the opening of Sunday evening’s broadcast, viewers will be invited to go to a web site address taking them to Clark’s Facebook page. There content related to her speech will be posted, ranging from candidate photos and profiles to infographics and other data.

Oliphant said while comments on the site will be moderated, comments that are critical won’t be censored.

“We will, as we do with the premier’s Facebook page, monitor comments that are posted to ensure they are in line with the standards of conducts we have posted on the page,” he said. “We are not going to remove any negative comments just because they are negative.”

Johann Starke, CEO of FCV, a Vancouver interactive and digital marketing agency engaged by the BC Liberal Party for digital and social media development, said political parties in Canada are starting to follow a trend of American politics that is seeing an increase in the use of social and digital media.

“I think in Canadian politics we are at the forefront of a period when the way campaigns are run is changing,” he said. “It has to change if political parties want to connect with voters.”

Starke pointed out that in the last American presidential election, spending on social and digital media grew 616 per cent over the 2008 election, to total US$159.2 million.